Some requests

M

Mr.E

Well-Known Member
Hi,

This is my first post.
I'm currently using a Gordius LG(X) and I'm looking at the Mastermind GT as a possible replacement.
The thing I'm missing on the Gordius is obviously the LCD screens.
Although the MMGT is very powerful, in all honesty, it still can't touch the Gordius where programmability is concerned.
- almost no limit on number of presets, songs, commands....
- variables
- conditional programming
- macros
- no limit on pages:
Originally the Gordius had two direct banks you could access on every bank. In the latest version Xavier introduced some commands with which you could assign different banks to D1 and D2.
In MMGT terminology this would mean that with each button you could assign a different page to the local page.
Another powerful feature is "retain fx states".
Imagine you have an Axe-fx with same blocks but different amps.
When using "retain effect state", you could switch presets and, if you had switched on the delay, it would also be on in the preset you switched to.

So some requests:
- Dynamic memory or a higher limit on presets - The Axe-FX XL has already six banks of 128 presets
- Ability to assign tap tempo and tuner to external switches
- Assignable pages per preset or programmable per button (for example: when engaging the looper button, the local page shows all commands for the looper).
- More pages that can be assigned per preset. This can be useful since not all presets use the same blocks. For example: preset 1 uses page 1 & 2; preset 2 page 3; preset 3 page 1 & 4....
- Variables, macros & conditional programming
- retain fx states globally (when switching presets) or per preset (so that when you return to a preset, the last fx blocks that were switched;, return to their previous state
- tempo for each song

Come to think of it, with variables and conditional programming alone, you could do lots.
For example:
Variable Delaystate
Turn on Delay sets Delaystate to 1
when activating the next preset:
If Delaystate = 1 then
Turn Delay on
end if

Assign a minimum value for volume.
This is where macros shine.
I made a macro that sends a cc value of 100 for the minimum volume.
So I add this macro to each preset to make sure the volume is set for rhythm.
Solo boost is a cc value of 127.
If I decide I need to change the value for minimum volume, all I have to do is change the value in the macro, not in all presets where I use the minimum value command.
Now if you could assign a variable to the cc value for minimum volume (this is possible in the Gordius) you could make a configuration page to alter this value.
This could be usefull when playing in different line-ups. For example, when I play with a trio, the minimum volume needs to be set higher, ie the difference between minimum and maximum needs to be smaller than whet playing in a band with more members, where you might need a bigger volume boost.
And if I could assign this to the volume pedal as well: (not possible in the Gordius)
minimum: variable "MinimumVolume"
maximum: 127

Oh and another powerfull feature of the Gordius: inheritance.
Create a bank. Another bank can inherit all the settings from that bank or and you can change only the buttons you need to change.

That's about it ;-)
I'll keep checking because the MMGT has already evolved big time but for now I can't justify the €1150 extra on the price of the Gordius.
 
Thanks very much for the feedback. I've heard some things about the Little Giant, but have never used one. I will have to look into it.

There are a few things you've listed that the Mastermind GT can do:

- Ability to assign tap tempo and tuner to external switches: you can definitely to this - an external switch can do anything an internal switch can do.
- Assignable pages per preset or programmable per button (for example: when engaging the looper button, the local page shows all commands for the looper): You can set up a button that, for example, turns on a looper and changes the visible button page to include looper controls. You can also assign a local page or choose one of the global pages to come up when a preset is selected.
- "Retain effect states" - this can be accomplished by setting the IA buttons with "Send on preset change" turned on, and "Update on preset change" turned off. So, each IA button will not change state when you change presets, but will send its current state via CC message to the Axe-Fx when you change presets

The programming, macros, etc. is an idea I've been investigating. I'm sure it will end up in a future firmware release in one form or another.
 
Hi,

Thanks for the fast reply and clarification.
It's this kind of customer support that makes company great company and inspires trust.
I was a bit confused because, when looking at a preset on the editor, it wasn't clear where I could define how many and which pages could be assigned to that preset.
Also in the editor, I couldn't find a command for tap tempo but I've taken another look and if I'm not mistaken, its' by assigning an IA and then choosing momentary.
Anyway.
I'm very excited to see the MMGT is still being developed further and the response to customer suggestions and wishes is excellent.
About the number of presets.
I know a lot of people say, why do you need that many.
But a preset can be a one relatinship with the prests in the unit your controlling.
With the Axe-FX XL, that's already 6 x 128.
But then, if you don't use scenes, or the number of scenes per preset aren't enough, you need to make more presets in the controler:
Preset + a combination of IA's that are active.
So for each preset in the unit your controlling, you can have an additional number of combinations.
That's why Xavier at Gordius made the memory allocation dynamic so that there would be almost no limit on the number of presets or songs or whatever you programmed.
You could have 1000 presets and no songs for instance.
I hope this makes sense.
Anyway.
Time to start saving. I think that the MMGT looks like the best candidate to replace my LG(X)
 
Each preset has access to 16 button pages. You can choose one particular page to appear when the preset is selected, or choose to have the preset retain the currently visible page. Within the preset, you can access any of the 16 pages either using page up and down buttons, or buttons programmed to call up a specific page.

You can also assign a local page to a preset. This page is loaded and displayed when the preset is selected. It takes the place of button page 16. You can still access pages 1-15 when a local page is active.

As for tap tempo, there's a checkbox on the button edit page that says "Flash w/ tempo". That, plus programming the button to send the correct CC message for your device(s) will make it a tap tempo button.

I see what you mean about dynamic memory allocation. We are currently using static allocation because it's faster, but if we were to switch to a more dynamic approach, it certainly would free up a lot more memory for other things.

The suggestions are genuinely appreciated! They'll all be considered for future releases.
 
Your interest is also very much appreciated.
It's nice to see someone who's dedicated to improving his product and satisfying customer demand.
Although I can understand you can not satisfy everyone (although I'm convinced you would try) I just want to offer some of my experiences and ideas.
I really think the Object Oriented way of programming for Midi controllers is the way to go.
I see you've already implemented that to some degree.

This is why I liked to use macros.
I made some presets for songs that included an preset with a certain amp model, settings for the pedals and initial IA states.
It also included a macro that initialised the IA's to be returned to their off state.
But If I wanted to rearrange the presets on the axe-fx, I had to do the same for all the presets on the controller.
Not with macros. If f.i. I used an amp called Friedman HBE and I had moved it to another position, or I decided I wanted to replace the preset of the Friedman HBE with a Cameron CCV (which I've just done) I only had to alter the value in the macro and all the presets in the controller that were using that amp were updated as well. I didn't have to go through all of them to see which one I had to change.

About the memory.
That's one thing that has always suprised me a bit since memory doesn't cost all that much I think.
But I see where the limits on presets come from - most fx units only had a maximum of three banks of 127 presets. But with units that have already more than 700 presets, enough memory for almost limitless numbers of presets, songs, commands,....it's not hard to see that combinations of presets and IA's could run in the thousands.

The Mitagator back in '89 had enough memory for 127 x 5 x 127 commands
 
Hi,
I'm interested in buying a MMGT, but the "Retain effect states" thing is not clear for me.
I'd like to have some effects that retain their last state for each preset, but that last state may be different from one preset to another. I need kind of an auto "IA Store" on preset changes.
It seems to me that, with the options "Send on preset change" turned on and "Update on preset change" turned off, the states will remain the same on a preset change even if the last state on the new preset was different from the previous preset.
Could someone explain me the exact behaviour of those "Retain effect states" options.
Thanks in advance!
 
If you have "Send on Preset Change" turned on and "Update on Preset Change" turned off, then the state of the IA buttons will remain constant through preset changes. Also, it will override any IA state that's stored in your device. So, let's say you have delay and chorus IA buttons turned on, when you switch presets they will stay on. They will also be turned on in your effects processor, regardless of whether your current effect preset has those effect blocks turned on or not.

To remember the last IA settings for each preset individually, you're correct that the GT would have to auto-store the state each time you made a change (or at least each time you switched presets). This is something that could possibly be done, although I have some concerns about wear and tear on the flash memory - each block of memory rated to be able to handle 100,000 writes, but if you have to write to memory every time an IA is changed, that starts to add up over the years.
 
Thanks for the answer.
I didn't think exactly of an auto "IA store" to the flash memory, but an option to remember the last state of a specific IA button for each individual preset as long as the MMGT stays turned on (RAM memory). No problem if the device returns to the saved states after it's turned off.
 
Unfortunately, there's not enough RAM to keep all of the presets there. Only the currently active preset resides in RAM, the others stay in flash.
 
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